Turner is in the Volusia County Branch Jail where he is being held without bail, a booking officer said.

DeLand police said they had been investigating the child's beating since April when hospital authorities in DeLand reported that the child had been airlifted to Orlando Florida Hospital with a tearing of the internal organs of his stomach. Doctors said that the injury to the boy's stomach was caused by blunt force, police.

During their investigation, police learned the boy used to come to school with washable tattoos covering his bruises. At one time the boy came to school with a whole sheet of tattoos covering his torso, police said.

When asked what hapened to him, the boy said the dog had pushed him into the pool. Later, he told investigators Turner instructed him to blame the dog, the report states.

The child then said Turner punched him in the stomach and that “it hurt” and “it burned,” police wrote in their reports.

The child recovered from his injury and placed in a foster home, said DeLand police Sgt. Chris Estes.